Drop the Mic: TBS Orders Celebrity Rap Battle Series From James Corden

“Drop the Mic” was clearly dreamed up as a viral complement to “Carpool Karaoke”, and it looks like Corden and company can call that effort a success.

TBS’ version, due in 2017, will feature four celebrities per episode with 16 installments planned for its first season, with the audience choosing a victor.

The rap battle bit hasn’t been around for too long, but it’s apparently popular enough for TBS to order 16 episodes straight-to-series… and it doesn’t even have a host attached yet!

The popular segment “Drop the Mic” from The Late Late Show with James Corden is going to be getting its own spinoff series on TBS.

For those who are unfamiliar, the segment features Corden rapping insults with a celebrity, like an old-school rap battle in which two MCs try to diss each other. “Now with TBS as our flawless partner, we hope to create some really memorable television”. There’s Spike TV’s upcoming series Caraoke Showdown, which is clearly inspired by “Carpool Karaoke”.

For TBS, the series marks the cabler’s’ first new unscripted show since adding Michael Bloom as senior vp unscripted and special event programming.

“James Corden and Ben Winston have struck a nerve with their celebrity-driven, music-infused, incredibly fun content”, Bloom says “This series embodies the kind of unique and surprising programming we are looking for as we reinvent our approach to this genre within the new TBS brand”.